


Child

by liziscribbles (orphan_account)



Series: Catastrophe and the Cure [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Blind Oracle Noctis, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, M/M, Most Everyone Lives/Some People Still Die, Role Reversal, Tenebraean Ignis, Tenebraean Prince Prompto, canon-divergence, eventual promptis though, ships not obvious until all the characters are older
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 02:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13180410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/liziscribbles
Summary: [Tenebraean Prince Prompto/Blind Oracle Noctis]An AU where Tenebrae and Lucis have swapped roles in Eos' destiny.  Prompto is the bastard son of Queen Sylva of Tenebrae.  At eight years old, he's excited about a surprise visit from his good buddy Noctis from Lucis, but is surprised when the visit takes a slightly somber tone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Forging Shields and Swords](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13180473) by [nicoleiacross](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross). 



If Prompto had to pick one thing that he loved the most about Tenebrae, it was the way the sylleblossoms looked in full bloom in the spring. His big sister Luna loved them. Every morning, he would jump on Ravus' bed until his older brother woke up, and beg to be taken out to the sylleblossom fields so that he could pick another bouquet. At first, he'd tried getting some for Ravus, too, but Ravus was always too busy, so he would forget to take care of them and the flowers would wither and die on his desk. No matter how many times he asked, someone always seemed to _forget_ to water them for him, so Prompto stopped picking the second bouquet.

Instead, he'd opted to start bringing his brother cool rocks that he found around the sylleblossom patches. Ravus had a whole drawer full. When he told Prompto that he'd need to get a second drawer to fill soon, that was _obviously_ his way of telling Prompto to bring back twice as many the next time he went.

Plus, there was this _really cool one_ that he'd wanted to get last time, but his hands had already been too full, between the flowers and hiding all of the rocks from Ravus under his coat. Today, though, he was going to get it. It was a little bit big, and a little bit heavy, but as long as he didn't try to get _too_ many other rocks while he was out, he could totally do it.

So, pulling his shoes on, and his cape, he dashed down the hall toward Ravus' room.

The manor seemed kind of busy today. Even just walking down the hall, all of the servants and butlers were in a tizzy. A couple of doors down, he saw Luna slink out of her room, and she didn't even pass a glance Prompto's way as she rushed down the hall and toward the main hall. Luna always made time for Prompto. She always came to check on Prompto before she did anything else, so something big must have been happening. She looked happy about it, at least, so it couldn't have been _that_ bad, but it was still really weird to see his sister in such a rush for anything. Usually, the only things she rushed like that for were private lessons.

It was okay. He'd see her later. And he had somewhere to be right now. Ravus' room was a door down from Prompto's, between Prompto and Luna's rooms, and Prompto wove between a pair of stewards who rushed down the hall the opposite way Luna had gone. They cast him a glance over their shoulders, smiled and waved, and Prompto responded in kind with a beaming grin and an eager, two-handed wave, before looking away and darting toward Ravus' door.

Turning the knob and throwing the door open, he shouted, "Rae! Are you awake?"

Of course, he knew the answer to the question, really. Ravus always woke up earlier than Luna and Prompto both. Responsibilities forced him out of bed really early, and into bed really late sometimes. He was older than both of them at sixteen; four years older than Luna and eight years older than Prompto. If anything ever happened to their mom, Ravus was first in line to be King of Tenebrae, and Prompto was _totally_ sure that he'd be a good one. Ravus was smart, and he was really nice and cool and Prompto's second best friend in the whole world.

Second best, of course, only to his good buddy Noctis. The pair of them had been friends for a super long time—since Prompto was only _six_ , actually—but Prompto didn't get to see his friend as much as he wanted to. Noctis lived really far away, all the way in Lucis. They saw each other twice a year, though. Once when Prompto's mom took him to Lucis with his brother and sister, and once when Noctis' dad brought him to Tenebrae to see the healers. When they didn't see each other, though, they would call each other on the phone, or write each other letters. Well, Noctis' dad or one of his friends would write his for him, but Prompto was still happy to get them. Especially since Noctis would send pictures, too.

Those were Prompto's favorite. Prompto liked pictures. He'd been asking his mom and Luna and Ravus for a camera for a couple of years now, so that he could take his _own_ pictures when Noctis came to visit, and so far, the most he'd gotten from his mom was a maybe. Ravus and Luna both seemed closer to getting him one. Luna seemed the closest of all, actually. When Prompto snuck around the castle at night a couple of weeks ago, he'd seen a camera magazine in her room.

It was sad, though, because even if he _did_ get a camera, he couldn't send Noctis pictures. Well, he _could_ , but Noctis wouldn't be able to see them. Not because of something sad like what Prompto read in fairy tales, but because Noctis couldn't see at all. He couldn't see anything. Noctis had explained it as being 'blind,' but Prompto didn't know much more about it, beyond the fact that it made it so that he couldn't see anything, and that it made his eyes this really cool shade of silver.

Noctis didn't like to talk about it, and the most that Luna or Ravus had ever told Prompto said that he'd gotten hurt by a daemon when he'd gotten lost one night. Prompto had gotten lost once before, when Luna and Ravus took him to the Tenebraean markets to go shopping. It was scary, but he hadn't been lost for very long. Ravus told Prompto that Noctis had been lost for _two whole days_ , and that they almost hadn't found him at all. For three years now, he'd had those silver eyes, those scars, and hadn't been able to see anything at all.

Prompto wished that, somehow, he could help his friend see. Noctis should have been able to see things. Like chocobos or sylleblossoms or how cool it looked when the sun was going down or how pretty it was when the stars were out at night.

Maybe someday, Prompto would talk to his mom about using the healing magic that their whole family had to help him. Luna said that they'd tried taking him to the healers in the manor—that Tenebrae had the _best_ healers in the whole world—but that no one had been able to help him. That, she'd explained, was why he came back to Tenebrae every year. It made Prompto feel a little bit sad, because if they ever _did_ make Noctis' eyes better, that would mean that his friend wouldn't have to come back to Tenebrae anymore. That probably meant that Prompto wouldn't get to _see_ him anymore.

As much as Prompto wanted him to be able to see cool things, he didn't want to not be able to see him as much.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he looked around Ravus' room and was surprised to see that his big brother wasn't there. His coat was gone, and so were his boots, which probably meant that he'd already left for the day. Prompto couldn't help but pout a little bit, but he tried to hide it, because Ravus always told him that Princes didn't pout. Still, they'd gone to the overlook to pick sylleblossoms every day since forever. Ravus liked it, he said, because it was a "little breath of fresh air before things get chaotic," so it wasn't like he'd miss it for no reason.

It was still lame, though. Prompto rushed over to the window on the other side of Ravus' room, looking out at the overpass and the trail that led to it. It wasn't far from the manor, and it wasn't like Prompto was a _baby_. He was _eight_! If he wanted to go and pick sylleblossoms and get that big rock for his brother, he could do it. Right?

Maybe he would send a sylleblossom to Noctis, too. No, his friend couldn't _see_ it, but he could smell it. Sylleblossoms smelled really good. Sweet, but still like flowers. Noctis told him once that sometimes, if he smelled something enough, it almost felt like he could see it. So, maybe Prompto could find the one that smelled the strongest, and put _that_ one in the letter. Luna wouldn't mind. She liked how Noctis and Prompto played when they were together. Sometimes, she'd read to them out of the Cosmogony. That was sort of boring, as far as Prompto was concerned, but she told both of them that it was important.

Prompto still wasn't sure why it was so important, but he didn't really care right now. All he cared about was getting out the front door of the manor and getting to the overlook. There were flowers that needed picking and a rock that needed finding! He just hoped that someone hadn't already taken the rock he was thinking of, and that he could remember where it was.

As he left Ravus' room, he almost crashed right into one of the cooks—his friend Ignis' mother, Glacia—who was hurrying down the hallway with a giant bucket of some kind of fish. It smelled kind of bad, but Prompto knew that some fish just _did_ that. So, after waving an excited greeting to Glacia, Prompto turned and started toward the front door. He was pretty sure that Glacia hollered something after him, something about something that was happening later, but Prompto was already too far out of earshot to hear her, and by the time he realized it, she was already around the corner.

It was okay, he wouldn't be gone for long. When he got back, he could find her and figure out what she said.

One advantage to being small like Prompto was, was the fact that he could easily weave through legs in a bustling hallway. Prompto wasn't sure he'd ever seen quite so many members of the manor's staff out and about at once before. It was pretty amazing, honestly. When he finally reached the main hall, though, there was a little bit more room to maneuver. In fact, there was a straight shot between Prompto and the door; a gap which he closed as quickly as his legs would possibly take him. The very second his hand lifted to turn the doorknob, though, a voice came from behind him and stopped him in his tracks.

"Where, exactly, do you think you're going, your majesty?"

For the fact that Ignis was only two years older than Prompto, Prompto was pretty sure that he talked way more properly than most grown-ups did. Not just that, but he was the only one who never listened, no matter how many times Prompto told him not to call him 'majesty.' Prompto was just Prompto. Yeah, he was a prince, but he wasn't a _majesty_. That was saved for people like his mom, or for Luna or Ravus. Prompto didn't even have the same dad as Luna or Ravus did, so he wasn't sure if he was even still a _majesty_ or not. It never stopped Ignis, though. Neither did the fact that they were friends.

It didn't matter right now. All that _did_ matter was making sure that Ignis didn't try to stop him from going outside. Turning around, he smiled at his friend and waved a slightly more humbled wave than he did with most of the staff. "Hi, Iggy," he greeted sheepishly.

Ignis pushed his glasses up on his nose and took a couple of steps forward, toward where Prompto stood at the door. "An answer that doesn't match the question," he announced, putting his hands into the pockets of his black pants and glancing from Prompto, to the door, and then back to Prompto. "Where are you going?"

"Outside?" Prompto's answer was uncertain, only because he wasn't sure if Ignis was actually going to _let_ him go outside, or if he was going to make Prompto go to the library and start with his studies already.

One of Ignis' eyebrows went up in question, and he glanced over Prompto's shoulder and out the front door. "Why are you going outside?" he asked. "Has Lord Ravus not taken you to the overlook already?"

Prompto shook his head. "I was gonna get some flowers for Luna like always, and get him this real cool rock that I saw... but when I went to his room to see him, he wasn't there. So I was just gonna go myself." Stopping for a very quick second, Prompto went into explaining mode right away. "It's not very far and I just wanted to go get the flower and the rock and please don't tell on me Iggy, please don't make me go to the library before I go to the overlook, okay? I just wanna-"

With a soft laugh, Ignis closed the distance between himself and Prompto and shook his head no. "I'll take you. Lord Ravus is busy this morning," he explained.

Busy? Usually, if he was going to be busy, he told Prompto beforehand. What had him so busy that he couldn't tell Prompto, or couldn't wait for Prompto to get the flowers first? That was okay, though, because as weird and fancy as Ignis was, Prompto liked spending time with him. He was cool, and he and Prompto were good friends. Ignis knew everything about old stories and stuff—way more interesting and cool stuff than the stuff that Luna told Prompto and Noctis when he came to visit—and he always told Prompto really cool stories. Maybe they could talk while Prompto picked flowers.

"Really? You're not busy?" Prompto asked excitedly.

Ignis shook his head no and smiled. "But we're just going to get the flowers and the rock and then come back, okay? Some Lucian visitors are on their way, and we don't want to miss their arrival."

Lucian visitors? Prompto's eyes shot open, and he bounced on the tips of his toes a couple of times as he looked up at Ignis. "Lucian visitors? Does that mean... is it Noctis?" His voice was definitely eager.

Humming a thoughtful note, Ignis shrugged his head to the side and smiled coyly at Prompto. As serious as he was, sometimes he could be kinda funny like that. "It could be," he answered. "Patience, your majesty."

Fighting back a cringe at being called 'majesty' _again_ was easier than it usually was. He still didn't like it, and sometimes he wondered if maybe Ignis did it just to tease him, but it was easy to ignore right then, because they had Lucian visitors on the way. Noctis' last letter hadn't said anything about coming to visit soon, and it had come in just a couple of days ago. It was always possible that Noctis didn't _know_ about it, sure, but if he _did_ find out, he would have called Prompto about it. Maybe, anyway. Either way, now he _had_ to find a big and really nice sylleblossom for his friend. The best smelling one on the whole overlook.

With a new determination in his mind, Prompto pulled his hands out of his pants pockets, opened the door, and held it open for Ignis to leave with him.

It was a bright and sunny morning. A little bit cold, as the breeze blew in from Niflheim and made him glad that he'd worn his jacket. Not enough for him to change his mind about this mission, though. Sylleblossoms always bloomed the best in slightly chilly weather, which meant that it would be way, way easier for him to find a really big and really bright one for Noctis.

"You're curious as to how you didn't know that Lord Noctis was visiting you," Ignis spoke simply, sliding a small electronic device back into his pocket.

Prompto had seen him use that before. It sent people messages really fast. He'd asked for one a couple of times, because he'd heard Ignis talking on it, too. That would be really, really cool; to be able to take a little device like that out of his pocket and talk to Noctis whenever he wanted to! Or even to be able to talk to Ravus or Luna when they weren't around. Maybe he'd ask again later on.

For now, Ignis was right, and Prompto nodded his head yes to tell him so. "His letter didn't say anything about him coming to visit, except that he couldn't wait to come back again next time." Unless that had been his way of telling Prompto that he was coming, but Prompto didn't think so.

The silence that encompassed their walk, broken only by the soft whistle of wind whipping around them as they moved along the front walk to the manor, told Prompto that Ignis didn't really have an answer, either. That was weird. Ignis always had answers to any question that Prompto asked him. Still, the way his friend pinched his chin gently between his thumb and forefinger, then looked down at the pavement and worried his lip between his teeth told Prompto that he didn't know either. Whatever it was, it was probably a big deal. Usually, when stuff happened like this, it was a big deal. Sometimes it was a _bad_ big deal.

"D'you think Noct would like a sylleblossom?" Prompto asked Ignis, turning to glance up at his significantly taller friend.

Ignis jumped a little bit, and then turned his head to look at Prompto in surprise, like the question had caught him off guard. "A sylleblossom for Lord Noctis?" he pondered, pushing his hair back and glancing up at the overlook. "I suppose sylleblossoms are quite aromatic, so even if he is unable to see it, he will still be able to appreciate its beauty in that sense."

Prompto smiled and nodded eagerly. "I'm gonna pick him the biggest, nicest smelling one there!" he declared.

"I suppose you'll need by assistance finding it, yes?" Ignis asked.

That earned a shake of Prompto's head, though. "I wanna do it!" he insisted. "You can help me pick Luna's bouquet and find Ravus' rock, though! There's one that looks like a sword over by the Ulwaat berry patch on the edge of the thing! Maybe we can pick some Ulwaat berries, too, so your mom can make some of those pastries?" His eyes flashed with hope as he looked up at Ignis.

Smirking a little smirk back at him, Ignis nodded his head yes. "I believe that can be arranged, though we don't need to pick the berries. Mother has a rather large amount of them in stock in the pantries," he answered.

"Can she use mine, too?" Prompto asked, folding his hands together and pleading with Ignis. "I wanna tell Noct that I helped, and-"

Ignis laughed a soft and amused note at that, before nodding his agreement. "You're quite fond of your friend, aren't you?" he asked, tugging Prompto out of the path of the gardener, who was rushing up the front step to get into the manor and would have knocked Prompto right on his tail.

Fond? Prompto arched an eyebrow and asked, "does that mean I think he's cool and fun to hang around with? 'Cause yeah, if that's what it means, I'm fond of him..." he answered.

Again, Ignis laughed a soft note and nodded his head yes. "That is part of it, yes. Fondness means that you like spending time with someone, and that you want to make them happy. That they matter to you, for many reasons, and that you wish to spend more time with them. That they are a treasured and valued friend," he explained.

Oh. Prompto looked over at Ignis and smiled even wider. "So, that means that I'm fond of Luna and Ravus and mom, too. And you," he explained, pointing at Ignis and nodding his head in excited agreement.

It looked like Ignis was surprised by that. He stopped walking for a couple of steps, and when Prompto turned to look at him, he was blinking very quickly. It was rare, seeing Ignis like that. Surprised, stunned, like he didn't know what to say or how to answer a question. Still, it looked like he'd figured part of it out, because he cleared his throat, straightened his back up, and then jogged the couple of steps that it took to catch up to Prompto, before he spoke up in return.

"I suppose that is what it means, yes. I'm quite fond of you, too, your majesty."

Prompto made a face, crinkling his nose and shaking his head no. "If you're fond of me, can you _please_ stop calling me majesty? I'm not majesty. I'm _Prompto_ ," he insisted, trying to keep his expression calm and level as he looked up at his friend. "You don't call Luna majesty. Why am I still a majesty and Luna's not?" Again, he was pouting.

Ignis seemed to pick up on the pout, too, and he laughed softly, an amused note. "I suppose a majesty would not have such a spectacular pout as you do, I will agree with that much," he countered. "I cannot guarantee that I will call you by your name all the time, especially not at court and especially not when I'm with you on official duty. You are correct, though. We are friends, and friends should not address one another in such formal tones, Prompto."

Smiling so wide that he thought his cheeks were going to fall off, Prompto nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Mom wouldn't care, though. I mean, she never calls us majesty or anything like that. Although she gets a little bit mad at me when I call Luna 'Luna' instead of Lunafreya. But I hate calling her Lunafreya. She's my sister, she's not some fancy person," he insisted, as the pair of them left the beaten path and headed for the overlook.

The small trail to the overlook was beaten, but only by footsteps from the daily trips that Prompto and Ravus took on it. Ignis went out of his way to avoid branches, and just like Ravus, he managed to keep Prompto on his feet when he would trip on stumps or rocks or whatever else was littering the trail. That was why Prompto liked having Ravus around so much. He was like a third sibling. Luna saw him the same way, Prompto knew, and Ravus was definitely a lot friendlier than he liked most people he encountered. Not that Ravus wasn't friendly. He was just a lot more formal than Prompto was. A lot more formal than Prompto would probably ever be.

In the distance and through a part in the trees, Prompto could see the blue of the sylleblossom field. His expression perked, and he tried to run a few steps closer, but Ignis grabbed hold of his shoulder before he could, and shot him a sharp look.

"None of that, please," Ignis insisted. "We will get there shortly, and I would rather you _not_ run straight off the overlook and fall into the Tenebraean streets. Or even worse, straight from the cliff and into the abyss below."

Walking slow when Prompto could _see_ his destination was the most annoying thing he had ever been forced to do, but he did it. Even so, he had his arms crossed over his chest, pouting dramatically at Ignis, who was laughing the whole time. Prompto wasn't sure what was so funny about him pouting like that, but whatever it was, if it was making Ignis laugh, it was totally okay. His friend was way too serious. When he worked, it was almost like he forgot how to smile, so Prompto always had to remind him that it was okay to be a kid too. Ignis was only two years older than Prompto, and sometimes he acted like he was older than even Ravus.

Although, as they stepped into the sylleblossom field, the way Ignis smiled made him look _way_ more his age than Prompto had ever seen him look. It wasn't the first time he'd been here, Prompto knew that much. Still, Prompto remembered him saying that he liked it here. Maybe that was why he'd agreed to come with Prompto today.

"Okay. While I look for a _real_ big sylleblossom and get the Ulwaat berries, will you pick Luna a bouquet for me and get the sword rock for Ravus, please?"

Prompto tried to smile as wide as he possibly could, because his mom always told him that when he smiled like that, he could 'make mountains bend to his whim,' whatever that meant. Mountains didn't bend. Prompto didn't even know what whims were, which meant that he probably couldn't _possibly_ have one. Right? Still, his mom wasn't usually wrong about stuff like that. She was almost always right, actually.

Whatever it meant, Ignis nodded and laughed, patting Prompto on the head and guiding him toward the sylleblossom field. While Prompto set out to find the biggest, nicest, most bloomed sylleblossom he could _possibly_ find, he watched as Ignis picked a few of the smaller ones. Smaller, but still nice. Blue eyes scanned the ground, squinted into the seemingly endless ocean of sweet smelling flowers in front of him. It didn't take him too long to find it. He walked carefully, taking _extra_ care not to step on or crush any of the flowers in his path. Prompto's boots pushed flowers to the sides before he stepped down—Ravus would tease him for taking as much care as he did, but he didn't hear any teases like that coming from Ignis—walking slowly until he got to the large blue flower that poked up and over the rest.

"Found you! I gotta pick you, but I know that Noct'll take care of you, little flower. Or maybe Noct's dad or one of his stewards or butlers," Prompto told the flower as he crouched down. He dug into the ground, grabbing a bit of sand and the roots, so that the flower didn't die immediately, as soon as it came out of the ground.

When he stood straight, he saw Ignis watching him in surprise. "You took the roots, too."

Prompto nodded. "Ravus taught me to," he explained. "If you take the roots with the flowers, then the flowers will live way longer. I don't want Noct's flower to die on him. Luna presses hers, and she has whole big picture books full of sylleblossoms that I've given her, so it's okay if they die a little bit faster. I don't want Noct's to, though, 'cause he doesn't come here often. And I want him to think about me when he sees it." He held the dirt and roots in both of his hands, and then clamped down on his lip when he realized that he needed a hand free for the Ulwaat berries.

It was okay. He'd done something like this before. Toeing out of the flower patch again, Prompto crouched down to the ground and gathered a large handful of dirt from the ground. He put the dirt in his pocket, and then very carefully put the flower and the dirt in his hand into his pocket with it.

A glance at Ignis said that he didn't necessarily approve of that, which was more than likely because he was the one who had to help the maids to Prompto's laundry. With a sigh, he looked up to the sky and mumbled something under his breath, and then started looking around on the ground. For the sword rock, Prompto figured.

"It's the size of my little finger," Prompto told him, "and it looks like a little tiny sword. Like the one Ravus carries."

Ignis glanced at Prompto for a brief second, nodded, and then started scouring the ground for it again. While he did that, Prompto—taking care not to hurt the flower in his pocket—walked toward the line of bushes on the edge of the overlook. Behind the bushes was one of the edges that looked down over the Tenebraean market, and Prompto could just barely make out the fact that all of the merchants were setting up for the day. This was Prompto's favorite time of day to go down into town, because the bakery always smelled like baking bread and pies, and all of the restaurants smelled like the food that they sold, and the whole place was like something out of a food lover's dream.

Prompto's mom never let him get too carried away, though. He and Luna and Ravus had a pretty strict diet, that their mom always made sure that they stuck to. Ignis helped, too, since his aunt and uncle worked in the manor's kitchen. Prompto didn't mind when Ignis cooked, because he was really, really good at it. He could make yucky vegetables taste less yucky, and Ignis and his parents were the only people in the world who could make onions in a way that Prompto would eat them. Still, just once, he wanted to go and eat at all of the restaurants in the market.

For the moment, he was on a mission. He leaned close to the Ulwaat berry bushes, looking for ripe ones, and picking every single one that he could get his hands on. Each of his hands was full, and he'd accidentally squashed a few of them, so his hands were covered in purple berry mess. As soon as Ignis saw that, he groaned again.

"You're a mess, your majes-er... Prompto."

Shrugging, Prompto looked down at his hands and then at the flower, and then looked back over at Ignis. "I have more clothes at home!"

With a super loud sigh, Ignis walked over to Prompto and held out his hand. "Is this the rock you were looking for?" he asked.

Prompto nodded and smiled even wider, holding his hands out and showing Ignis the berries he had. "Is this enough to make that berry pie for Noct? 'Cause I think he'll like it and I wanna share it with him!" As he held his hands out, berry juice dripped down his wrist and onto his sleeves.

Sighing again, Ignis used his wrist to push Prompto's arms down. "Yes, that is enough, and if not, we have more back at the manor. Please don't let the juice get on your sleeves, Prompto. Your clothes will be hard enough to wash with the dirt in your pock-" He stopped short, staring over the edge of the overlook and smiling a tiny and soft smile. "Ah. It appears that Lord Regis is here with Lord Noctis and his friends. Shall we-"

Prompto didn't even need to hear the end of that sentence, honestly. If Noctis was here, Prompto didn't want to waste any more time standing at the overlook. "Yeah! Let's go!" he shouted as he took off in a run back toward the manor.

Behind him, Ignis groaned in frustration and Prompto could hear his friend taking off in a quick run to catch up to him. "Prompto! Your _majesty_ , please wait! Please don't touch the door with your hands all covered in... _Prompto_!"

If Prompto got in trouble, that was okay. All that he _really_ cared about was the fact that he was about to see Noctis again.


	2. Chapter 2

To say that Prompto was excited as he dashed back out into the main hall of the manor was a _huge_ understatement. Ignis had made him change into his formal clothes—even though Prompto _hated_ his formal clothes, and didn't know _why_ he was wearing his formal clothes if all he was going to be doing was playing with Noctis—but even _that_ wasn't enough to bring Prompto down right then.

Prompto had very quickly transferred the sylleblossom into a small vase that his mother have given him long time ago. It was perfect for one flower, and Prompto held it in his hand while he rushed down the hall and into the foyer, ready to greet his friend with a smile and a hug. Until he got there, anyway.

He arrived just in time to see a couple of the people he remembered from Noctis' place. Gladio's dad came first, with his caretaker and one of the butlers, carrying Gladio's baby sister, then Gladio himself, and then Noctis' dad, holding a very tired Noctis in his arms. Noctis was awake, Prompto could see the silvery purple of his eyes as they blinked slowly, but he clung to his dad and buried his head in his dad's shoulder sadly. Suddenly, the energy Prompto had been feeling disappeared completely, instead replaced by worry as he dropped his arms down to his waist.

"Come," Glacia told Noctis' dad, "Her Majesty awaits you in the throne room, King Regis. And you, Lord Amicitia."

Regis nodded, setting Noctis down on the floor. Prompto watched as his friend hesitated to let go of his dad's shoulders and buried his face a little bit deeper against them, and then as Regis murmured a couple of soft words into Noctis' ear. Slowly, sadly, Noctis nodded and let his arms fall down to his sides. The caretaker lady—Prompto couldn't remember her name from the top of his head—tried to shush Gladio's baby sister as she sobbed, but she wouldn't calm down. She wouldn't stop crying. What had happened?

Prompto turned to look at Ignis, his eyebrows raised in question, and was surprised to see that Ignis looked just as confused as he was. That didn't make sense. Ignis knew everything. Like, _everything_. He was the smartest person that _Prompto_ had ever met, so to think that he didn't know something was scary. It also made him worry about Noctis, who took his dog's leash from the butler's hand and followed when the dog led him a couple of steps forward toward the caretaker lady and Gladio's baby sister. Noctis tentatively reached a hand forward, before grabbing hold of the bottom of the man's shirt and tugging on it twice.

The butler looked down, crouching and smoothing some of Noctis' hair from his face as he whispered a couple of soft words to Noctis and then turned Noctis in Prompto's direction. Noctis nodded and then turned to his dog. "C'mon, Umbra," he said sadly.

Now, Noctis turned toward Prompto and approached him slowly. Prompto hurried forward, meeting Noctis halfway. "Hey, Noctis."

"Hi," Noctis answered, turning his head downward and trying to hide his expression from Prompto.

Prompto could see it, though. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong, and as much as Prompto wanted to do something about it, he couldn't, because he didn't know what it was. A couple of seconds of silence went by, and Prompto looked around the room. When Ignis came into his vision, he blinked up at his friend, pleading silently for help.

With a hand on Prompto's shoulder, Ignis suggested, "why don't you take Lord Noctis to your room, your majesty? He's a little bit dirty, so I will draw him a bath, while the stewards show Lady Elshett and the others to the rooms they will be staying in, so that they can attend to Young Lady Amicitia." The words were spoken as gentle directions, but there was a sternness in Ignis' eyes that said that they were orders.

That was okay, though. It looked like Noctis needed to be somewhere that wasn't here. Prompto understood. Sometimes when he was sad, he didn't want to be around a whole bunch of people, either. He turned to Noctis, smiling even though his friend couldn't see it. Sometimes, Luna told him, people could hear it when other people smiled, and it made them smile, too. "D'you wanna come to my room?" Prompto asked.

Noctis raised his head, smiling a little bit—just a _tiny_ one, but enough to make Prompto see that Luna was right—and nodding his head. "Can Umbra come, too?"

"Of course, Lord Noctis-"

As Noctis turned toward Ignis' voice, he shook his head. "Noctis. Not Lord Noctis."

That sounded like a familiar conversation. Prompto snorted. "Good luck. Been trying to get him to call me Prompto since forever, and he won't." He grinned up at Ignis, and then turned back toward Noctis again. "Pryna's prob'ly in my room, or somewhere in the house if she's not there. Maybe they can play while we play." Actually, had Prompto seen his dog this morning? Sometimes she liked to sleep on the foot of Ravus' bed, or go and bug Luna for scraps at breakfast time. Wherever she was, she always showed up around the time that Prompto ate brunch.

"What're we gonna play?" Noctis asked, turning his head toward Prompto again.

A hard question. There were a whole lot of options. Prompto shrugged his head and trying to smile again, though the desperation that Noctis had in his voice to be happy made him a little bit sad again. "We can play that superhero game that we always play, or I can read to you..." In the corner of his eye, he saw Ignis smirking a little bit. Probably because he always tried to get Prompto to read, but he only _liked_ to read when Noctis was around.

Noctis didn't say anything in reply. Instead, he just nodded and took hold of the sleeve of Prompto's shirt with the hand not holding onto his dog's leash.

"I will see about finding Pryna and bringing her to your room, your majesty. And perhaps some brunch, if either of you are hungry," Ignis offered, before squeezing Prompto's shoulder.

At that, Noctis' expression perked and he turned toward Ignis' voice. "They served vegetable soup on the boat," he answered, and even though he looked like he was trying not to be sad, Prompto could see the little cringe in his nose that was a reminder that Noctis _hated_ veggies. Prompto hadn't really ever had a problem with them himself. They weren't his _favorite_ , but Iggy and Glacia had him on a pretty strict diet, and he'd gotten kind of used to them over time. Noctis wasn't, Prompto figured.

Ignis chuckled fondly, and then answered, "I can't promise that the meal I deliver won't include any vegetables, but I can promise that it will be good, if you promise to eat every bite."

Again, Noctis squished his face up in disapproval and turned his head toward Prompto. "It'll really be good?" he asked.

"The best! Iggy and his mom cook super good!" Prompto answered, smiling enough that Noctis would be able to hear it in his voice.

Nodding, Noctis sighed a resigned sigh and turned his head to face Ignis again. "Alright," he agreed, and then tugged a little bit on the dog's collar. At the slight tug, Umbra moved so that he was right up against Noctis' side. "Thanks."

Something had gone wrong. That was all Prompto could think as he and Noctis bid a temporary farewell to Ignis and then they split up to head down the hall and go to Prompto's room. Prompto didn't usually get to eat in his room, except for when bad stuff had happened. The fact that everyone with Noctis, and Noctis himself, looked dirty and tired more or less told Prompto that it was really bad. Noctis didn't raise his head, he trusted Umbra and Prompto to lead him down the hall and into Prompto's room. When they were inside, Noctis placed a hand on the wall and felt along it, for the chair that he usually sat in a few feet away from the door.

That was one of the reasons that Prompto never rearranged his room. Luna did it to hers at least once a year, and Ravus did it to his a little bit less often than that. Ignis asked Prompto if he wanted to sometimes, but Prompto thought of Noctis and his visits, and how his friend navigated the room with his hands to find the chair and the toys and the balcony where they would sit in the fresh air. Usually, the balcony was the first place they'd go, to overlook the sylleblossoms so that Noctis could smell them. That day, though, it was obvious that Noctis was too tired. He slumped into the chair, and Umbra jumped up into his lap, curling up and looking around protectively.

Prompto felt bad. It was obvious that _something_ had happened, but he had no idea what it was or how to help. Rather than worry about that for now, though, Prompto stepped over toward the window, setting the sylleblossom that he'd picked for Noctis down on the counter next to the balcony. He opened the sliding glass door, letting some of the fresh air and the aroma of the sylleblossoms on the overlook wash into the room.

When he turned to look, Noctis was smiling a little bit. He still looked sad, but he was smiling a _tiny_ little smile that made Prompto feel a little bit better about everything. Just a little.

Okay. Good. That, more than anything, was what spurred Prompto on to deliver his gift to Noctis. Grabbing the flower from the table again, Prompto quickly walked across the room. He held out his hand and displayed the flower to Noctis, and then frowned when he realized that he needed to say something. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Noctis couldn't see things like that.

"Um... here," Prompto said in a small voice, reaching down for Noctis' hand and placing it on the vase. "Iggy took me out this morning to pick some flowers and I saw this one and thought you'd like it."

Umbra looked at Prompto, and for a split second, Prompto worried that the dog would see him as a threat. When he just quirked his head, and then rested it on Noctis' leg, Prompto wondered what he'd been worried for. Noctis, on the other hand, tentatively reached his hand toward Prompto, feeling for the gift in the empty space. When he found it, his hand coming into contact with the vase, he ran his hand along the edge of it and then onto the stem of the flower, then up to the petals. The other hand released Umbra's leash, and then came up to grab the vase from Prompto's hand. He continued to examine the flower with his the fingers on his right hand, holding the ceramic vase in the left hand.

Unseeing eyes were trained on the flower, and his face looked like he was both sad and confused. "Is this a flower?" he asked.

Prompto nodded, then winced when it occurred to him that it wasn't a good enough answer. "Yup! It's a sylleblossom," he explained. "From the overlook. The ones that you always smell when we play on the balcony."

"I can smell it," Noctis answered. "It smells pretty. Like a plant, but also like the perfume Monica wears."

Smell was probably a better way for Noctis to identify things than anything else. Touch, too, Prompto supposed. The answer was good. It was obvious that it made Noctis feel _something_ , especially since he was smiling a little bit more now, but Prompto didn't know if he really _liked_ the flower or not.

So, Prompto decided, he'd find out. "Do you like it?" he asked nervously.

Noctis nodded, the smile on his face growing a little bit wider as he raised his head toward Prompto. "Can you tell me what it looks like?"

The question was a little bit sad, Prompto thought. The way that Noctis asked it, though, didn't really _sound_ sad. It wasn't the first time that he'd asked Prompto to describe what things looked like. He asked a lot. What food looked like, what the sky looked like when they played outside, what the toys that they played with looked like. He always sounded so happy to hear what things looked like. It was weird, but it was also kind of cool. Prompto wasn't sure he'd feel like that; that he'd want to _know_ what things looked like but never be able to see it himself.

Of course, he would still answer for Noctis.

"It's big, for a flower," Prompto explained.

Noctis nodded. "It feels big for a flower. Most of the time, when I feel flowers, I feel like my hand is gonna smoosh 'em. This one feels like it's almost as big as my whole hand." His smile was a little bit bigger as he lifted his head toward Prompto again.

That managed to make Prompto laugh a little bit as he moved toward the chair and sat on the floor beside it. "Uh huh!" he agreed. "It's almost the same size as your hand, and it's really, really blue."

At first, Prompto wanted to wince at that, because he didn't know if Noctis knew what blue looked like. When his friend perked up, though, his expression brightening, and said, "I remember blue!" that worry went away a little bit. "Like the sky, right? When the sun's out? That's blue." He turned toward Prompto again.

It wasn't exactly blue like that, but Prompto wasn't sure he wanted to say that. It was darker blue than that. More like the sky when it was almost nighttime. He struggled with whether or not to tell Noctis that he was wrong for a few seconds, and tried to come to a quick decision as Noctis turned toward Prompto with his face twisted nervously, like he expected an answer.

"You're quiet..." Noctis answered in a voice that even Prompto, at eight, recognized as nervous.

Prompto swallowed nervously and hummed an agreeing note. "It's... it's kinda like that. But the color is darker. I just didn't know if I... I didn't want to correct you, because I dunno if you know what dark blue looks like. You remember what the sky looks like. D-d'you remember what it looks like at night? Like, right after the sun goes down but before it gets totally dark and the moon comes up?" To say that he was nervous didn't feel like enough.

For a few seconds, it looked like he was right to be worried, because all Noctis did was close his fists a little bit tighter—one around the vase the sylleblossom was in and the other into a clump of Umbra's fur—and turn his head downward in quiet thought. "Like the sky is during the day, but like someone dumped dark blue paint on it and mixed it in..." he spoke in a soft, sort of sad voice.

A little bit of worry crossed Prompto's face, like he'd said something bad or something. "I didn't mean to-"

Noctis shook his head and flicked his head back up at Prompto. "It's okay. Just because I can't see it doesn't mean..." He paused, like he was hiding some kind of secret, clamped his lips together, and then breathed a soft sigh. "I r'member what it looked like. My dad used to take me outside and teach me about the stars. He said I'd need to know about them someday, an' stuff." For a few seconds, he shrugged a shoulder, and then unclenched Umbra's fur, starting to smooth those fingers over the petals of the sylleblossom instead. "I like that time of day. It's a little bit calmer. People start going inside, and you can really hear stuff going on around you outside."

"I-Insomnia's kind of loud still, but when dad takes me to Hammerhead to visit Cid and play with Cindy, or when he takes me camping, it's when you _really_ start hearing stuff. Like frogs croaking and crickets chirping. Sometimes, when you're fishin', you can even hear 'em jump."

For a few seconds, Prompto was quiet as he watched Noctis stroke the flower, like he was trying to memorize the feeling of it with his fingertips. It made sense, Prompto guessed. Noctis couldn't _see_ it, but he remembered Noctis telling him that he saw with his fingers once. "Why d'you look so sad? When you talked about Insomnia, you sorta flinched like you were getting yelled at and I know that you like Insomnia, so that's kinda weird." Wasn't it? Prompto thought so.

Prompto wished he didn't ask, because as soon as he did, Noctis' face got sad. He shrugged one shoulder, and then turned his face to look at Prompto. "I don't know a whole bunch," he explained. "Dad won't tell me. And neither will Clarus or Monica or Dustin or anyone. I just know that there were lots of loud noises and stuff. And I smelled lots of fire and really gross burning stuff, and I heard people screaming. I think someone attacked the city? But... all dad would say was that we were coming here for a little while, while the army fought. Clarus doesn't like it."

That didn't surprise Prompto at all, really. Gladio's dad was a nice guy, but he was also kind of scary. Kind of like Gladio. They were fighters. They had to protect a lot of people people and stuff, and that would make anyone a little bit scary. Especially when they had to be serious all the time. Prompto couldn't imagine having to be serious all the time like that. It made him glad that _Ravus_ was going to be the king and not him. He wouldn't be a good one.

"When we left, dad said it was only for a couple of weeks. Clarus said he knows that the army guys will be able to get rid of all the bad guys and stuff, but that me and dad and Clarus and Gladio and everyone else had to not be there, because if we were there, it wouldn't have been safe. We're... dad called us 'liabilities,' but I don't know what that means. Monica told me that it kinda means that as long as we're there, we weren't safe, and that the army guys would be able to fight better without having to worry about hurting us."

Noctis paused, putting the hand that wasn't holding the flower in Umbra's fur again. "I dunno about that," he admitted, shaking his head no. "But it won't be too bad as long as we get to play a little bit, too."

That explained a lot. Why they were here without Prompto knowing beforehand—because even _they_ didn't know that they'd have to come—and why everyone looked so sad and dirty, and why Iris was crying a lot. She was probably scared. Still, why didn't Noctis' dad tell him stuff? Prompto's mom told Prompto and Luna and Ravus lots of stuff. That Ravus was going to be king and that he was going to be chosen for something special by the crystal in the throne room. Prompto's mom explained that it would be a ceremony on Ravus' twentieth birthday, and that a whole lot of people from all over Eos would be in Tenebrae for it.

Ravus would be a good king, and he'd be really good at whatever he was chosen for, too. Prompto and Luna would back him up, too, with whatever it was that he was chosen for.

Just as Prompto was about to suggest something for them to play, there was a light and rhythmic rapping on the door. Not Ignis' usual knock, but a little bit lighter, and still familiar. Jumping to attention, he dashed across the room—almost tripping over Noctis' feet in the process and murmuring an apology to his friend—and then opened the door to look up at the person on the other side. Luna smiled down at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you boys behaving in here?" she asked gently.

"Hi, Luna," Noctis greeted Luna in a quiet voice.

Prompto nodded eagerly. "We were just talking, and I was about to try and find a game for us to play. What're you doing here?" he asked her.

She ruffled Prompto's hair gently, then glanced over toward Noctis. "Ignis sent me," she explained, "to tell you that Noctis' bath is ready. He went to the kitchens to help make brunch, once I offered to come and fetch Noctis. So, come along, Noctis, and I will lead you to the washroom. Dustin is waiting there to help you bathe. Prompto and I will wait outside while you do, and then bring you to the dining hall for brunch. _Then_ the two of you can play until brunch time, how does that sound?"

Noctis mumbled something about not needing help bathing. Then, he spoke a soft command to Umbra, and then the dog jumped down from his lap, turning around and waiting for him to get up. "Ignis also said that he'd go get Pryna," he told Luna, "so that Umbra could play with her." He stood from the chair, and gathered his walking stick from the hook in Umbra's collar.

"Ah, yes. Ignis suggested that we wait until after brunch for that. You know the dogs' tendency to beg for scraps, Noctis." She laughed a soft note, before stepping aside and pulling Prompto with her.

At first, Noctis just frowned, but then he nodded his head and walked over to Luna and Prompto, stopping in front of them and turning toward them. He knew how to get around the castle as well as he could, but Prompto figured he was probably a little bit sad, and if having the two of them walk with him would help? Then Prompto would totally do it. Standing on one side, with Luna on the other, the three of them set out down the hall and to the washrooms. Noctis took Umbra in with him when he went, closing the door behind him but not locking it, and leaving Prompto alone to talk with Luna.

Now that he was with his sister, though, all of the questions that circled around in Prompto's mind made him wonder exactly where to start. Luna urged him toward a small resting couch that sat on the other side of the hallway, across from the washroom. The couch was white with red trim, matching the rest of the room, and Prompto sat down next to Luna, leaning into his head into her side when she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. She reached her hand up and slid her fingers through his hair, and Prompto heard her laugh a soft note as she did.

Turning her head toward his, she asked, "have you even combed your hair today?"

Prompto shook his head no. "Too much stuff happened," he told her. "Iggy took me to the sylleblossom field this morning-"

"I know," she nodded. "I got my bouquet. Much more delicately picked than usual. Almost like Ignis did it instead of you." Her tone was gentle and teasing, and when Prompto looked up at her, she was smiling at him. He knew she didn't really mind.

Still, Prompto nodded. "I was tryin' to pick Noctis a sylleblossom, too. And I wanted to get some Ulwaat berries so Iggy could make him that pastry that he always makes for me. Sorry. T'morrow, Noct and me will go and we'll pick you a great big bouquet together, okay?" he insisted.

Luna hummed thoughtfully, but didn't say much else. Her eyebrows knit together a little bit, like she was thinking about something that she wasn't saying, but instead of saying _that_ , she pulled Prompto a little bit closer to her and rubbed her hand up and down his arm gently. "You said a lot happened. I'm assuming the next thing to happen was Noctis' arrival?"

Nodding, Prompto looked across the hall at the door to the washroom. "Insomnia got attacked, Luna. Noct said that he had to leave 'cause his dad said that the city'd be safer if they weren't there. And that his dad didn't wanna leave and that neither did Gladio's dad. That's why everyone's so sad and dirty and Gladio's got all kinds of bruises. Where is he, anyway? Did he go see the healer?" As he spoke, he glanced up and down the hall like he'd be able to see Gladio.

Shaking her head no, Luna tugged him back to her side again. "Shh, it's okay, Prompto. Gladio did see the healer, but he was only a little bit bumped up, so he went for a walk. I assume he needed a little bit of time alone," she answered.

Time alone. Prompto never actually understood why people _liked_ being alone. Prompto never really had. Some people, like Ignis and Luna, would sometimes make sure that they got time to themselves, which led to Prompto either playing with Pryna or writing a letter to Noctis so that he didn't seem like he was _really_ by himself. That was his favorite thing about his friendship with Noctis. They didn't see each other a lot, but even just writing a letter to Noctis sometimes made Prompto feel a lot less alone. And he felt even _better_ when he called Noctis.

Instead of telling Luna that he didn't like to be alone, because Luna already knew, Prompto looked across the hall again. "Noct seems real sad, and maybe a little scared. D'you think I can make him feel better if we play superheroes? Maybe we can pretend we're saving Insomnia. Or just saving Eos from the daemons and bad stuff," he suggested.

"I think maybe you should let Noctis decide what game you play today, Prompto," she suggested. "Superheroes might be too much. He looks very tired. You can play superheroes tomorrow."

Did he? Prompto hadn't noticed, but Luna was pretty good at noticing things like that. She could always tell when Prompto was tired before even Prompto knew. Between her and Ignis, Prompto never got to stay up a minute after bedtime. "Yeah, okay," he nodded. "D'you think King Regis will let Noct stay in my room instead of the guest rooms tonight? We can make a pillow fort or something. Something fun instead of just going right to bed."

Luna went quiet for a couple of seconds, and then chuckled a soft note. "I can ask him, if you would like. King Regis is going to be quite busy, today, though, so leave that to me, alright? Your _very important_ job is to play with Prince Noctis and make sure that he doesn't think about all of the sad things that happened back in Insomnia. You can do that, right?" She pressed a kiss to the top of Prompto's head, then smoothed his hair back.

Making a face at Luna kissing his head—sister kisses were gross—Prompto pushed his hair back the way it was supposed to be and nodded an answer. "Playing with Noct's my favorite thing in the whole world," he answered.

Immediately, Luna fixed Prompto's hair like he'd never mussed it to begin with, and then brought her other arm up to hug him again. "I think he feels the same way, too. Not just _anyone_ could make him smile after all the things that happened in Insomnia. Can you make me a promise, Prompto?"

"Uh huh?" Prompto answered, though he had no idea what she was going to ask. He'd do anything for Luna, so it didn't matter.

Removing her arm from around Prompto's shoulders, she took both of his hands in hers and then looked him square in the eye. "Whatever happens, can you promise me that you will be ever at his side? He will have plenty of people guiding him, and plenty of people telling him what he's supposed to be doing and when. What he will really need is someone beside him, being his friend and keeping him strong."

To be honest, Prompto didn't know a whole lot about Noctis and his life. He knew that Noctis' dad was special—not just because he was the King of Lucis, but because he was the oracle, or something like that... it was hard, sometimes, to pay attention during lessons about stuff like this—and he knew that Noctis had been blinded by a daemon when he was little. He knew that Noctis liked stories about superheroes and to have Prompto tell him about video games that he played, that Noctis liked to go fishing with his dad and that his dad was trying to teach him to fish, too.

Prompto _also_ knew that Noctis was scared when it was quiet. His friend always told him that it was because he couldn't see, and when he couldn't hear, too, it was almost like there was _nothing_ there. That was scary to Prompto, too, so he always made sure the staff knew to keep the radio or the TV or something on in the background in Noctis' room when he slept over.

Huh. Maybe he _did_ know more about Noctis' life than he thought. What he _didn't_ know, though, was how he could stay at Noctis' side. Especially when Noctis lived in Insomnia and Prompto lived all the way here in Tenebrae.

If it would help Noctis, though? Prompto would figure out how to do it. He nodded his head a couple of times at Luna, before leaning against her again. "I want him to be strong. I don't want anything bad to happen to him, Luna."

After pushing his hair back from his face, Luna pressed a kiss to his forehead again and squeezed him a little bit tighter into a hug. "I know you don't. Just stay at his side. Make him smile like you did today. After what happened in Insomnia, that's no easy feat, dear brother. That is the best way you can possibly keep anything bad from happening to him."

Sometimes, Prompto realized, a lot of the things that Luna said to him didn't make sense. This was probably one of those things. How could he keep bad things from happening to Noctis, if he was just supposed to cheer him up when bad things _did_ happen to him? Instead of asking, because he figured that all he would probably get for an answer was that it was 'one of those things he would understand when he was older,' Prompto lifted his head again and glanced over at the door of the washroom. Bad things had already happened to Noctis. He was blind because of a daemon. His home got attacked.

That just meant that Prompto had stuff to make up for, is all.

As soon as the thought entered his mind, though, a second voice entered his ears, and he looked up to see Ignis and Glacia approaching. Glacia held a covered tray—brunch, probably—and Ignis held Pryna on her leash. Prompto smiled a little bit more when his dog closed the distance between them and put her paws in Prompto's lap, kissing his face. He scratched the dog's ears, accepting the leash when Ignis offered it out to him and watching as Pryna jumped up beside him on the couch. She rested her head in his lap and he leaned back against the back of the couch, trying to relax a bit before Noctis came back out of the washroom.

Luna left with Glacia, something about helping with _something_ that Prompto didn't really care too much about. Ignis left right after, looking for Gladio, which left Prompto alone on the resting couch. Well, not alone. With Pryna.

The dog looked up at him curiously, and Prompto smiled nervously down at her. "Ever at his side, huh? Don't know what that really means, but if it'll help Noctis? I'll do it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm 100% aware that Dustin and Monica are Crownsguard members, not a butler and a caretaker. 8-year-old Prompto, however, isn't. XD
> 
> This is a teeeeny little intro to the series, kind of an attempt to drum up interest and see if it's even something that people want to see. Kiri, as usual, will be providing the other side to the story, so be on the lookout for that! ♥
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Forging Shields and Swords](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13180473) by [nicoleiacross](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross)




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